Aaron Mayer and Devyn Taras are certainly no strangers to anyone who has followed high school roller hockey in San Diego South County. They developed a celebrated rivalry during their high school careers while Mayer was playing for Eastlake High School and Taras for Otay Ranch High School.
Their penchant of trying to one-up the other on the playing court often produced games with football like scores. Their personal rivalry certainly made the games between the two teams very watchable.
The former roller hockey adversaries now find themselves playing on the same line combination for the San Diego State University men’s ice hockey team. They continue to push each other and, in the process, push the Aztecs forward in the win column.
Taras, a junior, collected five goals and three assists while Mayer, a senior, chipped in with two goals and four assists in a memorable weekend performance against the University of Southern California. SDSU swept both games against the Trojans played at the Kroc Center, winning 7-2 on Friday (Nov. 2) and 6-2 on Saturday (Nov. 3).
Mayer racked up a game high five points on two goals and three assists in Friday’s game while Taras contributed two goals and two assists. The former CIF-Metro Conference roller hockey standouts left their mark on the game with a combined four goals and five assists.
Taras had the bigger night in the series finale by recording the first hat trick in his college career while dishing out one assist. Mayer set up Taras’ hat trick goal.
The dynamic Chula Vista duo finished the two games against USC with a whirlwind seven goals and seven assists.
“We have developed great chemistry over the years,” Taras admitted.
“It’s awesome,” Mayer added. “I can just go down the ice and know where he is going to be. I don’t even have to look (to pass) because I know he will be there.”
That chemistry comes from playing against one another as well as playing alongside each other.
Prior to donning the jerseys of their respective high schools, they were ice hockey teammates on the Jr. Gulls travel team. The two were members of the Jr. Gulls Midget AAA team during the 2014-15 season.
Playing against each other in roller hockey helped fuel the competitive edge of both players.
“It was fun,” Taras said. “We’d hang out before the games and then see each other when we were playing against each other. It was fun.”
“It was a lot of fun,” Mayer interjected.
They might be having even more fun reunited as teammates with the Aztecs.
SDSU head coach Phil Bateman said both Mayer and Taras continue to push each other, especially after being placed on the same line.
“Devyn makes Aaron work harder and Aaron makes Devyn work harder,” Bateman said. “They really enjoy playing with each other.”
The weekend sweep of USC boosted the Aztecs’ season record to 5-3-1, 3-2-0 in PAC 8 Conference play.
Mayer leads the team in overall scoring with eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points while Taras ranks third with eight goals and six assists for 14 points.
Patrick Miller is second on the team in scoring with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points; Tyler Smith ranks fourth on the team with five goals and three assists for eight points.
Smith scored the opening goal in Saturday’s game, with assists going to Taras and Miller.
After Will Torgeson brought the Trojans (5-7-0-1) even on the scoreboard on a power play goal with 2:25 left in the opening period, Taras used his speed to give the Aztecs a lead they would not relinquish by scoring unassisted goals 30 seconds in the early stages of the third period.
Taras beat USC goaltender Cameron Podd at 7:18 and 7:48 of the period to nudge SDSU to a 3-1 lead.
The game turned around quickly for SDSU, however. Patrick Miller scored on a penalty shot at 12:37 – just 15 seconds after Voloshin’s tally.
Callum McRae, assisted by (San Diego County natives) Elisha Reece and Andrew Hoy, upped the Aztec lead to 5-2.
Taras completed his hat trick at 17:59.
“It was awesome,” Taras remarked. “Jut to hang out with the boys really makes it fun.”
SDSU out-shot USC 36-30. The game was choppy throughout, especially in the first two periods, as the teams combined for 23 penalties, including 13 by the Aztecs.
“We had a lot of penalties at the beginning … the first two periods we weren’t playing our system. Before the third period our coach reminded us we needed to play our system. If we worked our system, the pucks would go in.”
The late rally had the large contingent of SDSU students gathered along the glass whipped into a state of frenzy.
“One of our goals is to definitely win all our home games,” Mayer said. “Seeing all the people, especially our friends and fellow students, coming out to cheer for us pumps us up.”
Friday’s game was a complete turnaround from Saturday’s series finale. The Aztecs broke through with a 3-1 scoring edge in the second period to break a scoreless standoff and tacked on four more goals in the third period. SDSU finished the game with a 42-28 edge in shots.
Miller collected a goal and two assists in the game while Smith chipped in with two points on a goal and assist. Derian Theberge added one goal in the win.
Austin Hathcoat stopped 26 of 28 shots he faced to remain undefeated on the season with a 2-0 record, 3.64 goals-against average and .850 save percentage.
The Trojans used two netminders in Friday’s contest. Jonathan Kubiak stopped 30 of 36 shots while Podd blocked five of six shots.
Nick Ilvento received credit for the goaltending win in Saturday’s game after turning aside 28 shots. Podd made 30 saves in the loss.
Ilvento improved his season record to 3-1 with a 3.16 GAA and .900 save percentage.
SDSU reeled off the opening three goals in Friday’s match-up and rolled up four unanswered goals to lead 7-1.
Andrew Philips and Voloshin each scored goals for USC.
Both Taras and Mayer played four years for their respective high schools. Mayer owns the CIF-Metro Conference record for most points recorded in a single season.
Mayer has helped set the pace the last three years by ranking among the scoring leaders at SDSU.
“I got to hang with the boys, it was a lot of good times, that’s what it’s about,” Taras recalled. “I got to play with my friends from school. It was awesome. It was also great conditioning for ice hockey for me.”
The addition of SDSU and San Jose State to the South Division and the addition of Eastern Washington and Boise State to the North Division has certainly livened up competition in the PAC 8 Conference, which now includes 12 schools with the addition of the four new member teams.
The conference is expected to undergo a rebranding with the expansion to 12 teams.
Bateman said the move to the PAC 8 was a win-win sitation for the school after receiving the invitation.
“You get to play more recognizable teams with larger alumni bases,” Bateman said. “From our standpoint, it was an easy move for us.”
The SDSU coach believes his team can hold its own in its new league.
“We’ll be fine,” Bateman said. “Most of the teams are really close to each other (in caliber of play). There is some good talent down here (in San Diego County). I think you’re going to see our program take on a different look in the next two or three years.”
SDSU returns to the ice for a Nov. 9-10 weekend series against Arizona State University. Friday’s game faces off at 8 p.m. at the Kroc Center while Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
(Through Nov. 3)
San Jose State 7-3-1-1
San Diego State 5-3-1
USC 5-7-0-1
Arizona State 3-5-0
UCLA 0-7-0
Photo Gallery by Scott Hopkkins
College roller hockey report:
Saddleback Gauchos pace field at WCRHL kick-off event
The 2018-19 Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League season has faced off and races are now officially on for division titles and top individual honors.
The WCRHL faced off the new season Oct. 27-28 at San Jose’s Silver Creek Sportsplex.
The Saddleback College Gauchos appear to have started right where they left off after blazing to a 4-0 showing at the WCRHL’s first regular season event.
The Gauchos finished 4-0 at the two-day San Jose tournament while out-scoring opponents 26-13.
Saddleback opened the season with an impressive 5-4 shootout win over Division I WCRHL member UC Santa Barbara and posted victories against a pair of Division II clubs – 4-3 over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and 6-4 over Chico State – while recording an 11-2 victory against fellow JC Division rival West Valley College.
Saddleback College returns much of its firepower that catapulted the team to the 2018 national championship title in the Junior College Division.
“It was great to start the weekend off strong and going undefeated,” explained Saddleback club president George Godinez, a Hilltop High School alumnus and former coach at his alma mater. “Last year’s squad was very good and we all clicked together well. This year it’s even stronger. Everybody on the team has either played with or against each other for many years. The chemistry between us all is awesome to see.”
The Gauchos feature six returners from last season’s national championship squad: Jackson Faught, Scott Hummitsch, Ruslan Patterson, Mason Pilkington, J.P. Merrick and Godinez.
Impact newcomers include Ryan Romans, A.J. De Los Reyes, Hayden Maxwell, Clay Heinze and goalie Luke Benevente.
Pilkington led Saddleback in scoring at the season opening event with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the four games, followed by Faught (seven goals, three assists) and Romans (five goals, five assists) with 10 points each and Maxwell (three goals, three assists) with six points.
Pilkington netted the shootout winner over UC Santa Barbara while Faught, De Los Reyes and Patterson also notched game-winning goals over the weekend. The game against West Valley College, which Saddleback defeated to win last season’s national championship, was tied 2-2 at the end of the opening period before the Gauchos closed the game with nine unanswered goals.
Godinez said the team is looking forward to the WCRHL’s next regular season event Nov. 17-18 in Huntington Beach that will also double as an inter-regional match-up with Lindenwood University from the Great Plains Collegiate Roller Hockey League and Florida State University from the Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League helping bolster the competition level.
Lindenwood finished runner-up in last season’s Division I national championship game while claiming the Missouri school’s eighth consecutive Division III national championship title.
“It’s gonna be a fun weekend playing all very great Division I schools,” Godinez said. “Our match-ups are against Arizona State, Florida Gulf Coast, Lindenwood and UC Santa Barbara. They are all going to be fast, hard fought, high intense games.
“Our goal is to defend the title this year. The only expectations I have from the team, including myself, is for us to go out there on game days and battle hard every shift.”
Teams in all divisions participated in the season opening event.
UC Santa Barbara grabbed an edge for early season Division I bragging rights after posting a 4-3 win over defending division champion Arizona State University at October’s season opening event in San Jose.
Kevin Mooney (six goals, eight assists) and Tyler Barone (seven goals, fives assists) led UC Santa Barbara in scoring in the season opening event while Aryeh Richter paced ASU with 14 points in four games. Freshman Chase Steel, who finished third in team scoring with eight points, was a bright spot for the Sun Devils.
“We struggled a bit on special teams, which will improve with time, but otherwise this team showed a lot of promise,” noted ASU program director Nick Boyarsky, whose team entered the San Jose event somewhat shorthanded.
The University of Arizona (2-0-0-2), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-1-0-1), CSU Fullerton (2-1-0-1), Long Beach State (2-1-0-0) and Chico State (2-2-0-0) each picked up two wins in San Jose as just two standings points separate six teams in the Division II standings.
Fullerton’s Dylan Kammer (six goals, six assists) and Troy Yano (four goals, seven assists) have the early edge among division scoring leaders with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Cal Poly’s Nicholas Leacox (2.19 GAA) and Arizona’s Kenneth Eakle (2.31 GAA) are challenging for top goaltending honors.
Cal Poly Pomona matched Saddleback’s 4-0 record at the season opening tournament.
The Broncos recorded convincing victories against a trio of divisional opponents: UC Irvine (7-1), UCLA (6-1) and Cal Berkeley (9-1) while tacking on a 4-2 win over Arizona State University’s top notch Division IV team at the San Jose event.
Three of the seven Division IV teams in action at the season opening event recorded at least three wins: Arizona (3-0-0-1), Arizona State (3-1-0-0) and UC Santa Barbara (3-1-0-0). CSU Fullerton finished 2-1-0-1 in its four games while Cal Poly’s Green and Gold teams combined for 2-4-0-0 records.
Scott Vernacchia, who played for both Cal Poly teams, racked up 15 goals and 22 points in five games to face off the season as the division’s early season scoring leader.
For updates, visit the website at www.wcrhl.com.
Ice chips:
GULLS GETTING PLAYERS BACK, ANSWER CHALLENGE BY EARNING STANDINGS POINT IN 14-ROUND SHOOTOUT LOSS
At the beginning the season San Diego Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins stressed patience with the team’s collection of forwards, or rather, lack of them. The Gulls bench boss noted that his team would start the 2018-19 American Hockey League season, in his words, “light” at the forward position due to players still remaining with the NHL parent Anaheim Ducks or on the injured list.
Some of those players are starting to trickle back into the Gulls’ lineup as the team rolls into the third week of the season.
Max Jones, a former No. 1 draft pick, joined the AHL squad for two games last weekend (Oct. 19-20) and recorded a pair of assists in a pair of wins.
Fan favorite Kalle Kossila took the ice for Friday’s Pacific Division contest against the visiting Stockton Heat. He received a warm and loud welcome from those gathered in the Valley View Casino Center.
Kossila, a native of Finland, had played in 126 regular season games and 17 playoff games over parts of the past three seasons, emerging as one of the team’s offensive leaders. During that time, he also appeared in 11 games with the Ducks, recording his first NHL goal last season.
He was among those coming off the injury list.
“I’m always excited to play in a hockey game,” the amicable Kossila said following Friday’s morning skate. “It’s tough watch a game from the stands. I’m getting better every week. It’s a process.”
San Diego Gulls fan favorite Kalle Kossila celebrated his return to the lineup with a goal. Photo by Phillip Brents
Kossila welcomed his return to action in the Oct. 26 contest after watching games the last couple weeks; he was obviously itching to get back on the ice after watching the Gulls pile up a three-game winning streak. “It’s real easy to play with these guys,” Kossila said. “We try to approach it one game at a time. It’s nice to get a couple wins under our belt; we’d like to keep it going.”
The Gulls were challenged early in Friday’s game while facing a 4-0 first period deficit. The Heat racked up unanswered goals by Scott Sabourin, Glenn Gawdin and Andrew Mangiapane from 8:11 to 11:37. Gawdin scored again at 15:51.
Sabourin, a former Gull, was greeted by boos from the 6,768 in attendance every time he touched the puck.
Stockton’s Spencer Foo was awarded a penalty shot at 4:47 but rang a shot off the post to deny the Heat a chance to reclaim a four-goal lead.
Penalties to both teams marred play, especially in the opening frame when the teams combined for six infractions, including four by the Heat. The Gulls were shut out despite holding a pair of two-man advantages.
Stockton capitalized on both its power play chances while the Gulls finished 0-for-4.
“They’re fast, we’ve got to be ready for the challenge,” San Diego captain Jaycob Megna said following the morning skate session.
“We’re taking it one game at a time. We’re learning to play together and play our system. There will be nights when we won’t have everything together; other nights we will.”
That statement aptly described Friday’s game.
Jared Coreau replaced Gulls starter Kevin Boyle to start the second period and shut out the Heat over the next 40 minutes as the teams continued to trade power play opportunities.
The hosts got one goal back when Luke Gazdic broke Stockton’s shutout bid 3:00 in the second period to trim the Heat lead to 4-1. Deven Sideroff and Simon Benoit drew the assists on San Diego’s first goal of the night.
The Gulls quickly turned it around on another Gazdic goal to at the 11:20 mark of the second period to trail 4-2. Sideroff and Jacob Larsson drew the assists on that goal.
The hosts completed their raucous comeback by scoring the first two goals of the third period to knot the score 4-4. Both goals came on the power play – the first by Giovanni Fiore at 4:39, assisted by Jones and Sam Carrick, and the second by Kossila at 6:22, assisted by Corey Tropp and former USA Olympian Troy Terry.
The game-tying goal by Kossila came on a picture-perfect shot off assists from the team’s veteran players. Kossila twirled his stick in glee in celebrating the goal. It must have felt like old times to the Finn.
There would be no further scoring in the ensuing three-on-three five-minute overtime period that featured a lot of puck possession by the visitors but just two shots by each team.
The outcome would rest on what would turn into a 14-round shootout between the teams’ respective goaltenders: Jon Gillies for the Heat and Coreau for the Gulls.
Each team scored once in the opening three-round tiebreaker and again in the fourth round, which continued into successive rounds as the teams remained tied. In all, Gillies and Coreau held nine consecutive shooters at bay until Matt Taormina settled things with a goal in the 14th round to end the game.
Stockton received the extra bonus point while the Gulls received one standings point for extending the game past regulation to extend their current points streak to four games (3-0-0-1).
The 14-round shootout marked the longest shootout in Gulls history while the comeback from the early four-goal deficit was the largest in team history.
“That first period was a crazy one,” Eakins admitted after the game. “We’re down 4-0 and I thought we had played alright, a couple of unfortunate bounces. The only negative was our penalty kill letting a seam pass come through. It wasn’t a time to yell or scream. The guys kept up on the bench. I thought our room was solid in between periods and we began just to chip away for it.”
Eakins emphasized there was too much time left in the game to panic after one period.
“I went through what we worked on in practice this week, all the things we worked on in practice, we were excellent at it in the first period,” Eakins said. “The first goal was kind of like a knuckleball that dipped on our goalie. The second was a broken play. They did score a nice goal on the power play, but overall, 5-on-5, I thought we were playing well so I reiterated that to them.
“This isn’t a big fire drill right now. Let’s just come back out, stick with our vision and our values, and continue to play 5-on-5 like we had. We needed a goal or two out of our power play and it’s always interesting where you get your goals. (Alex) Dostie, Gazdic and Sideroff come out and they’re able to chip in two right away. That’s what you need. You need everybody contributing.
Eakins noted that Coreaus’s save on Foo’s penalty shot was critical in his team’s comeback.
“That’s what you need in every game,” the Gulls coach noted. “It’s those moments when this game can swing one way or the other. Obviously, he was good there and he was excellent in the shootout and that’s encouraging to see.”
Coreau finished regulation and overtime with 23 saves on 23 shots after Boyle made 10 saves on 14 shots in the first period.
Overall, Stockton out-shot San Diego 38-33.
“You’re never out of a game,” Eakins stressed. “When we went through exhibition and the first game of the season, you can’t hold a lead. It is hard to hold any kind of lead now. You are never, ever out of the game. That’s why it’s always important to not quit or not mail it in when its 4-0. All you need is one or two to get going and you’re never sure where it’s going to go.”
It was a shame that many fans left after the first period as they missed what turned into a terrific game.
Tyler Graovac and Foo each scored shootout goals in the opening four rounds while Carrick and Chase De Leo also notched shootout goals to keep the tiebreaker going.
The teams combined for 12 accepted penalties. The Heat finished 2-for-5 on the power play while the Gulls finished 2-for-7.
Gazdic, who played in 61 games for the Heat in 2017-18, earned first star of the game honors with two goals while Kossila earned second star honors with a goal in his return to the team. Gawdin picked up the third star of the game award with two goals for Stockton.
Gazdic admitted it was a rush to score against his former team. “It felt good,” he said. “We put ourselves in a hole early and, as a fourth-line guy, I just wanted to help the team in any way I could. I got some great plays by Deven (Sideroff) and Alex (Dostie) there on my line, getting me the puck. I’m thankful they went in and it was against my former team. We showed some resiliency coming back. It was just tough we couldn’t get the result at the end.
“I thought we came out of the gates hot. Dallas (Eakins) wasn’t super negative with us. He told us to keep trucking along here. One big thing was staying out of the penalty box. You can’t win a game when you’re killing the whole time. We cleaned that up and started chipping away and eventually made that come back. It sucks to fall short though.
The focus was to stay positive, Gazdic said.
“We have a great locker room,” Gazdic said. “We have a good mix of some young players and some veterans in there that can take the bull by the horns. When something needs to get done, we can really lead the way. It was nice to see we didn’t roll over. We fought tooth and nail to climb back into it and we’ll try to build on that tomorrow night.”
The teams have little time to reflect on Friday’s marathon game. The Gulls host the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday (Oct. 27) while the Heat travels to Bakersfield.
Tucson improved to 5-1-0-1 with an 8-5 win over the host Ontario Reign on Friday to occupy second place in the division standings.
San Diego is in fourth place with a 3-2-0-1 record while Stockton is 3-3-1-0, tied with the Gulls with seven standings points (though San Diego has a higher winning percentage).
San Jose remained in first place in the division standings at 6-1-0-1 (13 points) following a 2-1 win at San Antonio on Friday.
Quotes courtesy of San Diego Gulls communications staff.
GULLS AND GHOULS NIGHT GETS DEVILISH FOR VICTORIOUS ROADRUNNERS
The Halloween-themed Gulls and Ghouls Night took place Oct. 27 at the Valley View Casino Center as the San Diego Gulls hosted the Tucson Roadrunners.
The evening featured a special Halloween trick or treat tailgate, children’s Halloween costume parade during the first intermission and a devilish 4-3 win in overtime by the visitors.
The Roadrunners, last season’s regular season Pacific Division champions, entered the game with a 5-1-0-1 record and 11 standings points in their opening seven games of the 2018-19 American Hockey League season. The Gulls, who were eliminated from playoff contention last season by Tucson, entered Saturday’s contest riding a four-game point streak (3-0-0-1) that had elevated the team’s record to 3-2-0-1 in its opening six games.
The hosts had little time to recover from a 14-round shootout loss the previous evening to the visiting Srockton Heat while the Roadrunners were making the trek into San Diego on the heels of an 8-5 road victory in Ontario. The Gulls expended a lot of energy in climbing back into Friday’s game after falling behind 4-0 in the first period. The hosts scored two goals in each of the second and third periods to send the game into overtime and ultimately earn a precious point in the standings after the disastrous start.
Luke Gazdic initiated the Gulls’ comeback on Friday with two second-period goals to receive the first star of the game recognition while San Diego’s Kalle Kossila, returning to the lineup following successful hip surgery, scored the game-tying goal to earn second star honors.
Conor Garland earned first star of the game honors in Friday’s win against the host Reign with two goals and three assists while teammate Mario Kempe recorded three assists to grab second star honors.
Both teams looked a little weary to start Saturday’s game, which was played in front of 7,080 fans.
Jared Coreau, who stopped all 23 shots he faced in relief of starter Kevin Boyle in Friday’s game, got the start in the net for the Gulls. Coreau blocked 11 of 14 shootout attempts, including nine consecutive, to keep the Gulls in contention.
Hunter Miska drew the start for the Roadrunners.
The opening period finished fairly innocuously. Tucson finished with 12 shots to 10 for San Diego. Each team finished 0-for-1 on the power play.
The second period opened on a more robust note for the hosts as Kossila scored a power play goal at 1:31 to stake the Gulls to a 1-0 lead. Josh Mahura and Corey Tropp were credited with the assists.
The Roadrunners tied the game at 11:19 on David Ullstrom’s second goal of the season, assisted by Garland.
But the Gulls struck back quickly to take a 2-1 lead when they caught the Tucson defense chasing the puck in their own end. Ben Thomson scored from between the circles at 15:14 to give the hosts the lead. Tropp picked up his second pint of the night with the primary assist while captain Jaycob Megna received credit for the secondary assist.
Both goals came at even strength.
Megna was whistled for an interference penalty with a minute remaining in the second period. The Roadrunners capitalized on the power play with 17.6 seconds in the stanza on a slapshot from the top of the face-off circle to Coreau’s left by Kempe. Robbie Russo and Garland received credit of the assists.
Tucson finished the period with a 16-11 edge in shots for a two period total of 28-11.
The third period faced off with point-blank saves by both netminders. Miska was forced to make a few more when the Gulls went on the man advantage at 3:09 when Kempe was called for tripping.
However, it was the Roadrunners who notched the first goal in the period when they pounced on a misclearance to go up, 3-2, on the scoreboard. Jordan Gross found it timely to score his first professional goal, assisted by Adam Helewka and Lane Pederson, at 7:39.
But the hosts stormed right back to make it 3-3 at 10:48. Kossila continued his torrid return to the lineup with his second goal of the night and third in two nights. Troy Terry and Steve Oleksy drew the assists on the game-tying goal.
Miska kept the score tied with a spectacular side to side save with 5:43 to play in the third period.
The game went to overtime with the Roadrunners having fired 45 shots at Coreau. The fired six more in overtime before finally putting the puck past the San Diego netminder with 15.3 seconds to play in the five-minute sudden-victory period.
The goal, scored by Ullstrom on a backharnd chip from Michael Bunting and Russo, came after Tucson was unable to capitalize on a penalty to the Gulls. Final shots in the game were 51-32.
The win was Tucson’s third straight win over the Gulls this season and sixth consecutive dating to last season.
The Arizona Coyotes AHL affiliate swept its two-game Southern California roadtrip featuring back to back games.
Miska, who picked up his second win in as many nights, stopped 29 of 32 shots to improve to 3-1-1 on the season.
Bunting said the team’s ability to play an emotionally-grounded game was a key to nailing down the victory. Tucson trailed twice in the game before recording the overtime victory.
“It definitely goes a long way,” Bunting told the TucsonRoadrunners.com website. “Not getting too high on yourself after a goal, kind of just staying in the game, and not getting too low after they score, that’s definitely huge. I felt that when they tied it up we didn’t take our foot off the pedal at all and we ended up winning in overtime.”
Tucson has one regulation loss in eight games to start the season.
“It definitely feels nice to get four points on the road on a tough road trip travel-wise, but we came out with four points,” Bunting said. “Me and [Russo] battled hard there on the wall and [Ullstrom] drove hard really well, he beat his man to the net and I just put it right on his stick and he put it in.”
The Gulls did extend their current points streak to five games (3-0-1-1) despite absorbing the OT loss.
“We’re getting there,” San Diego head coach Dallas Eakins said in regard to his team’s progress following a 0-2 start to the season, with both losses to Tucson. “Once we get healthy and start to form some line combinations, have a little bit less of the up-and-down and guys out with injury, it comes, but we still have a lot of work to do.
“It’s encouraging that we’re right there. We just have to tighten up a few areas. That’s what the start of the season is for. We’re still pulling video clips in between periods to continue teaching. That’s how it is every year. We’ll continue that path and try to get better this week.
“Obviously there’s lots of competition and no love lost between the two teams and some players. So it was a very physical night.”
Eakins praised Kossila’s instant contribution to the team upon his return to active status. The Finn led the Gulls with seven shots in the OT setback.
“He’s been excellent,” the Gulls bench boss noted. “To come back from the injury he had, the amount of diligence he has put into his rehab, with his condition, with the way he has practice the last two weeks, he’s a great example of how to do it. Usually guys that have been out that long and come in, they don’t have that kind of impact. He was determined to have one.”
“There are good and bad things, a lot of things we need to clean up and some good things we did as well,” Kossila noted of the two-game weekend set in which the home team picked up a pair of points in the standings. “Just learn and keep doing those good things.”
Face-offs
The Gulls lineup continued to fluctuate in the early part of the season. Defensemen Andy Welinski and Jacob Larsson were both late scratches. Centermen Jake Marchment and Tyler Soy, along with winger Jack Kopacka (wrist laceration), were also scratches for Saturday’s contest.
In subsequent player transactions announced by the Gulls, Welinski and Larsson were called up to the Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls’ NHL parent club, while Soy was assigned to the ECHL Tulsa Oilers. Marchment was released from his professional tryout contract (PTO).
Not dressed for Tucson were defensemen Kevin Ekman-Larsson and Dakota Mermis and winger Trevor Cheek.
Pacific Division leader San Jose improved to 2-0 on its Texas road trip after defeating the host Texas Stars, 6-1, on Saturday. The Barracuda swept the three stars awards – Jayden Halbewaches (first star), Manuel Wiederer (second star) and Maxim Letunov (third star), all with a goal and assist.
Bakersfield built an 8-2 lead through two periods in claiming a home ice win over Stockton on Saturday. David Gust (two goals, one assist) and Logan Day (one goal, two assists) each had three points on the Condors’ first eight goals.
SAN DIEGO GULLS TO HONOR U.S. ARMED FORCES
DURING MILITARY WEEKEND NOV. 9-10
The San Diego Gulls announced tthat the American Hockey League (AHL) club will honor the U.S. Armed Forces by hosting Military Weekend this Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10 agaisnt the Colorado Eagles at Valley View Casino Center (both games at 7 p.m.). This special weekend will pay tribute to local military members and their families, as well as raise awareness and funds for local military nonprofit organizations.
Military Weekend will see the Gulls provide tickets, at no cost, to more than 4,000 military members and their families as part of a ticket donation plan to benefit local service members where the Gulls matched all fan contributions.
San Diego will wear a new patriotic-themed specialty jersey each night during the weekend. Select game-worn Gulls jerseys will be autographed and available for a silent auction following the Saturday, Nov. 10 contest on the concourse at Section 10. A game-worn jersey raffle will begin each night at 6 p.m. and end at the conclusion of the second period each game. A select number of game-worn jerseys will be available via the DASH Auction app, a digital auction platform. Fans can download the DASH Auction app via iOS or Android devices in the app store. All proceeds raised by the San Diego Gulls Foundation via the auction and raffles will be donated to the Armed Services YMCA, Operation Rebound of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and All-Star Vets. Fans can also text DASH to 66866 to download the app.
During both games, the Gulls Community Spotlight will feature military-specific charitable organizations. Friday, Nov. 9 will honor Shelter to Soldier, a nonprofit organization that adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-Sept. 11 combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Saturday, Nov. 10 Community Spotlight will honor the Armed Services YMCA, Operation Rebound of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and All-Star Vets. Each game will also feature a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Table by Section 13 on the concourse dedicated to the tradition of setting a table decorated in special symbols in honor of POW/MIA comrades.
On Friday, Nov. 9, all fans in attendance will receive a free Gulls desert camouflage hat. The Nov. 9 game will begin with the Jr. Gulls Squirt BB Team from Ice-Plex Escondido unfurling the American flag on the ice prior to a ceremonial national anthem performed by honorary military members. The ceremonial puck drop will feature former San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Jones and U.S. Army Spc. Curtis Gandee on behalf of the Randy Jones Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides new opportunities and resources for military kids to participate in local sporting events, programs and outdoor activities.
The Gulls will honor Ret. Navy Corpsman and Bronze Star/Purple Heart recipient Daniel “Doc” Jacobs who will be presented with a plaque as the Military Hero of the Game on Friday, Nov. 9. The special plaque will be placed at the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial next week. Doc Jacobs will be the first Gulls and Mt. Soledad Veteran of the Month in conjunction with San Diego Veterans Coalition. Not only was Doc one of the few amputees to return to the Fleet Marine Force for the Navy, but he also made U.S. Naval and Marine Corps history by being the first amputee Corpsman and Naval Personnel ever to be assigned to an infantry unit.
Military Weekend will culminate on Saturday, Nov. 10, and fans are encouraged to arrive early Saturday evening for the military-themed Bud Light Pre-game Tailgate from 5-7 p.m. The tailgate, located in the North Parking Lot, will feature a $5 Bud Light Truck, military vehicles on display, food truck options, street hockey, photos with the Gulls Girls and Gulliver, and interactive games for fans of all ages. Prior to the tailgate, Patriots Hockey, a veteran charity hockey club, will host the San Diego Heat (Fire Rescue Hockey Club) on the ice at Valley View Casino Center (2:30-4 p.m.). The charity hockey game is free of charge.
As part of Saturday’s contest, military families from THE RINKS – Poway ICE will unfurl a large American flag on the ice prior to a ceremonial national anthem performed by honorary military members. Saturday’s ceremonial puck drop will feature Ret. U.S. Air Force Medical Administration Spc. Gary Rossio. Saturday’s Military Hero of the Game will honor U.S. Marine Cpl. Andrew Adrian, a student veteran at San Diego State University and local business owner.
Following Saturday’s contest, Gulls captain Jaycob Megna and two alternate captains will provide team-autographed sticks to three military families on the ice immediately after the final horn. In addition, active and retired service members and their families are invited to take part in a post-game family skate with Gulls players on the Valley View Casino Center ice following the game on Nov. 10 by signing up at the Section 10 booth. Limited space is available.
The Gulls’ home arena, Valley View Casino Center, will offer free parking to anyone with a military ID for both Military Weekend games.
A limited number of tickets for Military Weekend are still available. Individual game tickets can be purchased through SanDiegoGulls.com/tickets, by calling (844) GO GULLS or in person at the Valley View Casino Center Box Office. Tickets sold at the box office are first-come, first-served.
